Suspect charged over Norway attacks

Saturday 23 July 2011 04:15 BST

Medics and emergency workers escort youths from a camp site on the island of Utoya (AP)

A gunman who opened fire on an island teeming with young people kept shooting for an hour and a half before surrendering to a Swat team which arrived 40 minutes after they were called, police in Norway said.

Survivors of the shooting spree on Utoya island have described hiding and fleeing into the water to escape the gunman, but a police briefing on Saturday detailed for the first time how long the terror lasted - and how long victims waited for help.

When the Swat team arrived, the gunman, who had two firearms, surrendered, said police chief Sveinung Sponheim.

"There were problems with transport to Utoya", where the youth-wing of Norway's Labour Party was holding a retreat, Mr Sponheim said. "It was difficult to get a hold of boats, but that problem was solved when the SWAT team arrived."

At least 85 people were killed on the island, but police said four or five people are still missing. Divers have been searching the waters around the island.

The attack followed a bombing at a government building in the capital, Oslo, where seven people were killed. Police are still digging through rubble there, and Mr Sponheim said body parts remained in the building.

Police have not identified the suspect, but Norwegian national broadcaster NRK said he is 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik. Authorities have not identified a motive but said he visited Christian fundamentalist websites and once belonged to the youth-wing of a rightist party.

Police said he is talking to them and has admitted firing weapons on the island. It was not clear if he had confessed to anything else he is accused of. Police said he had retained a lawyer, who did not want to be named. "He has had a dialogue with the police the whole time, but he's a very demanding suspect," Mr Sponheim said.

Norway's royal family and prime minister led the nation in mourning on Saturday, visiting grieving relatives of the scores of teenagers who were gunned down.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said the twin attacks made yesterday peacetime Norway's deadliest day, adding: "This is beyond comprehension. It's a nightmare. It's a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends".